


The Neighborhood

by Writing_Like_Ill_Die



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Adopted Children, Cute Kids, Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Smart Angus McDonald, kids being kids, let angus be a kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 07:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_Like_Ill_Die/pseuds/Writing_Like_Ill_Die
Summary: Angus McDonald didn't live in a house, he lived in a neighborhood. Which sounded obvious and stupid until you actually took time to be around the kid.





	The Neighborhood

Angus McDonald didn't really live in a house. He lived in a neighborhood. Which sounded stupid and obvious if you were a stranger listening in. But when you got to know him, the difference between 'house' and neighborhood' for the young, shockingly smart boy was obvious. All of his school friends certainly knew the difference. They had long since instructed their caretakers to park right outside the wall of the neighborhood and wait for Angus to come out, rather than playing the guessing game and trying to find which house he was staying at that day. They also had stopped being shocked whenever Angus offhandedly mentioned a new caretaker that they didn't yet know about. Maybe they were confused when he mentioned that he had to get home early, lest he would miss tea time with Lucretia, or when he groaned and complained that Carey would be way too happy to know that he successfully stole back something.

Of course, all they had were these offhand comments. They'd never been formally introduced to any of his guardians, aside from Taako, who was the headmaster of their school and didn't count. Sure, they could piece together that the giant bounding man with the dogs was Magnus, or that the man with the atrocious mullet wearing all denim was Barry, but they didn't know them, simply because Angus never talked in excess about them.

Of course, they all knew it wasn't a matter of shame. Angus just wasn't the sort of boy to brag, or to gush about the people around him. He was private, and all his friends could respect that.

But when Tylor was invited to spend the night, the remaining kids couldn't help but be a little jealous of not being the first to meet one of Angus's mysterious guardians. Though, they weren't exactly surprised either. Angus and Tylor had been inseparable from day one. Angus's enthusiasm was brought down to earth by Tylor's coolness, and likewise, Angus was very helpful in sorting out the young tiefling's feelings for him, when things got overwhelming and confusing, and when he had been bottling things in for too long. They were the perfect pair, two halves of a whole.

So why was he so damn nervous? Maybe it was basically as close as he would get to meeting the parents and getting approval from them. Of course, the tiefling was very aware that dating Angus would be nigh impossible. But hey, he could dream!

As the two approached the neighborhood, Angus holding onto him as Tylor biked in, he felt close to fainting. Angus had told him he was going to Taako and Kravitz's house. Of course, he knew plenty about Taako, but next to nothing about Kravitz. He had never even seen him. Angus's only warning was about Taako: 'Don't say you're hungry, or he'll make way too much food!' So maybe the Kravitz guy wasn't too awful.

They parked by a nice, wooden cabin, a cherry tree in the middle of the yard. The house was made with purplewood, giving it a nice pretty color. The chimney was puffing out smoke. As Angus led him up to the porch, he noticed that it was littered with citronella candles, and also that there was a skeleton cat, just lounging on one of the wicker chairs. Tylor jumped, but Angus simply smiled and pet the strange cat, running his hand over its exposed spine. It made a rattling noise, almost like a purr, as Angus spoke to it softly. "Hi, Nightfang! Did you get kicked out again, you silly thing?" He said sweetly, picking it up in his arms and cradling it. He turned to his friend. "This is one of our cats, Nightfang! He's really sweet." He smiles happily, and Tylor of course smiles back, still not sure how the fresh hell Angus's family acquired a fucking skeleton cat or whose idea it was to name it 'Nightfang.'

But Angus shifts the cat in his arms and turns back to the door, pulling a key from his bag and unlocking it as the skelecat slowly adventures onto his shoulders, eventually wrapping itself around the back of his neck like a bony scarf. As the now three go through the door, Tylor is hit with the smell of good food cooking. He can't remeber the last time he had a homecooked meal, his big sister always too busy to make something, and leaving him to scour the cabinets for a meal that he could heat up with prestidigitation. But he could smell pasta being boiled, sauce being heated up, and his stomach growled. Angus grinned at him as he took his hand and led him in.  
The door led to a small foyer, with a coat rack that had far too many coats on it, which Angus only piled onto as he tucked his blue jacket into the mess. Tylor soon followed, as he looked around the house with wonder. High ceilings, pictures and maps and trinkets all over the place. On a small table by the door was a couple of pictures. the middle one showed several figures, all of them battered and bruised, but smiling with glee. In the middle was a younger Angus, looking barely eleven, grinning while being hugged by at least three people at once. Tylor was soon tugged away, though, deeper into the house, past the foyer and into a huge living room, with way too many couches, all oversized and overstuffed, colored with pastels, and yet dotted with black and grey cushions. One of the armchairs, lilac in color, had an eyescorchingly bright quilt over the back of it.

"Dads, I'm home! I brought a friend!" Angus called, still holding the tiefling's hand. All the soft sounds in the kitchen stopped immediately. All of a sudden, Tylor was face to face with a skull, peering down at him with red sparks of light in empty sockets for eyes. He naturally went pale, his dark red skin fading to a pink. He didn't scream, though, which was an accomplishment considering he was staring into the face of what he recognized as a Reaper. Angus, unfazed as always, simply whined out a 'Daaad, don't use the skull face.' Instantly, as if on command, the skull melded into the face of a dark and handsome man, whose bony hand reached out to affectionately pet Angus's hair. "Sorry, Angus. You know how I get." He said, almost sheepish, and Tylor took a few deep breaths as the color came back to his face. And then, out of the connecting kitchen walked Taako Taaco, the Headmaster of the Birds' School of Magic, in all his dramatic glory. Somehow, he managed to be as intimidating as always, despite being in mongoose printed pajama pants and a crop top that said 'Life is Okay.' on it with a neutral face. He beelined for Angus with the amount of ridiculous grace expected from him, and brought him close to his chest, while pretending to be annoyed with his son. Or maybe he was annoyed. It was hard to tell with Taako.

Then, the wizard's eyes locked onto Angus's hand, still intertwined with Tylor's, and followed the arm up to the face of the very nervous boy, who was trying very hard not to show his fear. He swallowed hard, as Taako gave him a cool smile.

"Ango, go help Krav with dinner, okay?"

"Alright!" The boy smiled, though they both knew it was the smile of a boy who would most certainly be eavesdropping. As he dashed off with the Reaper- apparently Kravitz- close behind, Taako sat in the lilac armchair, gracefully, while still maintaining his cool smile. 

"So, you're Tyrone or whatever, right? Angus is always coming home with new stories about you. Mostly good, though."He started, and Tylor shifted uncomfortably from where he stood. He still didn't show his fear though. "He says you act cool and uncaring to everyone else but him and his friends. That's nice enough, but he also says that you can be... handsy, at times." The cool smile was suddenly freezing, and the tiefling's stomach dropped with dread. 

"Do you like Angus? And be honest. I don't want to have to cast Zone of Truth on you."  
  
He nodded, voice shaking just slightly as he replied, low so Angus couldn't hear him. "Yes sir. I don't mean to be touchy, but I get protective. I want to protect him. It's a tiefling's instinct."

Taako nods, expression not changing. "That's fine. You seem nice enough. As long as you aren't touching him when he's uncomfortable with it, I'm good. Hell, if you can manage it, I'll even let you date him. But just know. If Angus comes home with a single negative word about you, I will never let your soul rest." his eyes glinted purple, showing the promise of a master wizard. Tylor nodded hurriedly, but genuinely, scared out of his mind. 

Taako's smile turned warm (sorta) and he stood. "Good. Let's go eat some dinner. I made Ango's favorite, hope you don't mind!" He swished back into the kitchen, and Tylor took a second to even out his breathing before he joined the family, where Angus was stirring a pot of pasta. As the boy turned to smile at him though, Tylor knew that he would endure a thousand more intimidating Talks for him.


End file.
